Get to Know Steve Pankey: Associate rector serves Foley in and outside church

FOLEY, Alabama -- The Rev. Steve Pankey describes himself as a “terrible fisherman who loves to play on the waters of south Baldwin County, a Pittsburgh Steelers fan and a husband, father and priest trying as best I can to keep it all in order.”

After growing up in Lancaster, Pa., Pankey studied engineering at the University of Pittsburgh and transferred to Millersville University.

He graduated from there with a bachelor’s degree in business administration.

Later, he entered Virginia Theological Seminary to study for the priesthood. Once that training ended, he moved his family to Foley to accept the position of associate rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, where he is associate rector to the Rev. Keith Talbot.

“I proposed to my wife the same weekend I received my calling to ordained ministry,” Pankey said. “Thank goodness she said ‘yes.’ The rest has been a grand adventure.”

His wife, Cassie, is a full-time mom and a part-time dental hygienist.

Pankey is very active on the board of the South Baldwin Chamber Foundation.

“I came to serve on the board through Wayne Verry, a member of St. Paul’s who was rotating off the board and had helped start an outreach ministry at Foley Elementary School.”

Pankey will be a deputy at the Episcopal Church’s General Convention in 2012, and is on the board of Beckwith Camp and Conference Center on the banks of Weeks Bay. The conference center is an agency of the Episcopal Church that includes a summer camp and an adventure course.

“As a minister, I see myself as an empowerer of people and an encourager of questions,” he said.

Pankey is an integral part of St. Paul Episcopal Church’s outreach program at Foley Elementary School. Volunteers from the church have been assisting the children and teachers at the school for four years. They help kindergartners with their ABCs, and assist the school nurse, the librarian and the office staff.

“It has been a blessing to our community to watch these children grow,” Pankey said.

“I believe education is the justice issue of our time,” he said. “It breaks the cycle of poverty, full stop. As a Title 1 school, FES is on the front lines in the fight to raise a new generation into a hope-filled future.”

Pankey said the South Baldwin Chamber Foundation helps through programs at every school in the Foley High School feeder pattern.

“The program targets not just the best and the brightest, but those who often fall through the cracks of our modern educational system,” he said. “As a community, through SBCF, St. Paul’s and other organizations, we can teach kids that learning is a lifelong process that will lead them to places they could never imagine.”